Arch Stanton

Crowds make a huge difference. We lost at home to Peterborough, the track and racing were poor, but I still kind of enjoyed it because of the numbers there and the atmosphere. We could go from one extreme to the other on Thursday though! One of the best non bank holiday attendances in years to one of the worst..

No. Any replacement for Heeps up to and including 7.06 So an assessed 7 pointer could be accommodated, or someone from the championship on a converted average. Options there look non existent though. Roll the dice and try someone new?

Never said he was “happy”, he said there was some positives to take from our own riders. Scores from Doyle, Batchelor and King weren’t earth shattering by any means don’t get me wrong, but Lynn away is clearly a difficult fixture this time, they look a good side. Fact remains, 2 guests scored a single point between them, and our rider and former Lynn rider who has started the season in fine form was a big miss, as was our reserve who hit paid 16 there only a few months ago. Chances are, our normal 1-7 would have made the score more than respectable. An awful lot of negativity around at the moment and that’s understandable as we’ve had 3 meetings and lost all 3 with the home defeat a particular concern, but it’s still only 3 meetings in at the end of the day and very early. Having said that, I’d still like to see the club bite the bullet and strengthen if it’s possible before the league campaign starts. Belle Vue suddenly look very strong and and will start favourites in our first league meeting next week, that’s a huge test.

I’m no fan of Hawkins but to be fair to him, what he said was there were positives from our OWN actual riders, and there were as they all scored pretty well for an away meeting. The score looks awful because two guests scored 1 point between them with a single point for Riss’ R/R rides says it all. Starke and Riss in particular were a huge miss last night.

Wasn’t just Heeps missing though was it. Starke hit paid 16 here last season and Riss has started the season very well. Both big misses tonight. Not that it mattered a great deal.

Bit better from Batch. Probably would have gone close with Riss and Starke in there rather than the woeful guests.

I brought a season ticket this year for the first time ever because it represented a bit better value than it normally does, but I’m still not bothering with Thursday which is nothing more than a glorified practice session with nothing riding on the result. Absolutely agree. Should never have been 2.10 under in the first place. Admit the mistake early and do something about it before the league starts next week. Edit: Even more so having just realised it’s Belle Vue visiting next week, a much stronger looking Belle Vue with their change. That looks a home defeat right from the get go!

Oh dear..

Bloody hell if a member of the BSPA can’t get it right then there’s no hope for the rest of us is there? Why do these bloody rules have to be so complex and confusing? It’s like all this 25% fixtures b0llocks before a change can be made, nobody is entirely sure what it means exactly. I give up!

Pretty sure the rule is that your number 8 can replace any rider without the need to re-declare on a match by match basis, just not during a meeting. Knew I’d seen it somewhere. “Or can be named in the team to replace a rider without the need to re-declare”

Yep, although Andersen for Starke less so. Starke was the match winner here last year with paid 16. Doesn’t really matter either way I’d have put him in for Starke personally instead of drafting in a guest. Why not give him the rides?

R/R for Heeps, and Kasper Andersen guests for Starke.

Surely it’s 25% of the fixtures of the team that wants to make the change? Wouldn’t make a jot of sense otherwise.

The race in question.

Yeah, that’s the change, Zagar for Allen. Phil was hinting there was more than one change, that isn’t possible under the current rules.

Wouldn’t read too much in to comments made by riders when they don’t get rides at other clubs. When I spoke to him at the end of last year he seemed very happy and was hoping to return. If we’d have stuck a contract under his nose early doors who knows? Wasn’t all about him anyway was it. Wasn’t a case of Cook and being bang on the points limit, or no Cook and being 2.10 under. Back to this meeting, what a wasted opportunity. Such a healthy crowd, the biggest non bank holiday crowd I can remember for many a year. Such a shame we couldn’t put on a performance to entice the majority back. Let’s hope the limp performance and poor track conditions haven’t done too much damage.

That’s the only change you’re allowed to make Phil. Unless they’ve already scrapped the new 25% league fixtures rule..

Belle Vue have been looking for a heatleader all winter and have more than likely missed a number of targets because they were hoping and waiting for Bewley to become available which backfired. We already had Cook so IF we wanted him, I’d have thought we would have been favourites as he was already here. Was he even asked? Perhaps he didn’t fit with Hawkins’ “riders I want to work with” policy for this year. Timo Lahti? Last average was 6.47 for Poole in 2017. I’m not saying it’s simple putting a team together in fact it must be a nightmare. Hundreds of phone calls are probably made, half of the riders probably won’t even bother picking up the phone, the majority of others would no doubt be asking for ridiculous sums of money so you’re probably left with a pretty small pool of riders to choose from. But that’s the same for every other club too and as has been said, we’ve the added advantage over most clubs by having a very good financial backer. All the riders that have signed for others were all available before they signed contracts with those clubs, maybe plan and move a little quicker? Whichever way you slice it, there is no justifiable excuse for building a team over 2 points under the team building limit and that’s a hill I’m prepared to die on.

Such a shame for Lynn that Iversen isn’t going to hang around (as yet anyway). With him there, Lynn look a very good side. Strong top end with Iversen, Lawson and Pickering all potential double figure scorers, and a powerhouse reserve. That adds up to a very dangerous side. The fly in the ointment is obviously the Iversen/Kildermand situation.

The “5 pointer” was hypothetical and a loose example. I think you know what I was getting at. The basic point remains, they should be allowed to make more than one change if they can’t find an adequate replacement, and they feel a couple of changes would get the overall team strength closer to the strength they originally declared. I accept it’s more tricky for Lynn than others because of the way they’ve built their side with a strong reserve already at the bottom end of the team.

What the hell is hypocritical about not particularly liking his style of commentary whilst he was alive, and also being shocked, saddened and sending genuine condolences about the poor man’s death? So if at any time in the past, you’ve commented on here that you’re not a fan of his commentary, you shouldn’t then come on here and send your condolences for the man’s sudden passing because it’s “hypocritical”, or as Diamondboy was implying, some are shedding crocodile tears because obviously they don’t care the man is dead because they’ve been on here criticising his style of commentating in the past? What a pathetic and pretty crass point of view.

Not sure there’s many (if any) reliable heatleaders around. Belle Vue have struggled all winter to find one. This is where this new rule of not being able to make changes until 25% of league fixtures have been completed doesn’t work. If Lynn can only find a 5 pointer, are they supposed to struggle for a quarter of the season before they can make more changes? If PK doesn’t come, then Lynn might need to make a couple of changes to remain competitive.

Stop being a complete pr!ck ffs

Agree.

Crikey what a terrible shock. So very sad the man loved his Speedway and sport in general. RIP